Days of our Lives
by TiaKisu
Summary: Sometimes, the Doctor takes Rose someplace special. – A little piece about Nine and Rose, because there's still so many stories yet untold.


_The idea for this one hit me three days ago. Although I am rather certain that, as so many other things, it has already been done before I figured there's no better way to start the new year than with some pointless Nine/Rose sweetness - so I just went for it and look, here we are._

_This might eventually turn into a series of one-shots if my muse is willing to come up with more (and poeple like it). If not, this is all you're gonna get._

_I hope you enjoy. And happy New Year!_  
_TiaKisu :)  
_

_Disclaimer:__None of this is mine. If it was, Nine would have definitely had more seasons.  
_

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**Days of our Lives**

„Where are we?", Rose asked excitedly, bouncing on her heals as the Time Rotor ground to a halt.

Next to her the Doctor arched his back, crossing leather-clad arms in front of his chest and raising a dark eyebrow.

"You'll have to find out. Would completely spoil the surprise, tellin' you."

His lips were curled in a self-satisfied smile, pale blue gaze lying on his companion and watching her every reaction.

"Then at least tell me when we are", she prodded, a challenging grin lighting up her face, "Can't hurt to give me a time, can it?"

The Doctor shrugged at that.

"It's the year 20,014 by your reckoning, not that it would be of any importance. Nobody 'ere to bother about things like that."

The moment he said that Rose almost jumped on her spot, her chin tilting up as she released a victorious: "Ha! So we're not on Earth."

When it dawned on him that he had actually given her a piece of information that he had intended to hold back and let her discover on her own, the Doctor crinkled his nose.

"Oi, that was cheatin'", he huffed in mock exasperation and fixed her with a faked glare that he knew she would be completely immune to.

"So?" she chirped, tongue touching her canine as she beamed away at him, mischief written all over her.

While the Doctor rolled his eyes dramatically and produced a sound that was the closest to a sniff Rose shifted her weight to her other foot, impatiently waiting for him to counter.

"You think you're so impressive."

Although he had not thought it possible, her grin widened even further upon his words. Hazel eyes almost sparkling in the warm light of the control room, she craned her neck as if to try and give herself air before she exclaimed in the best Northern voice that she could muster:

"I a_m_ so impressive."

For a long second then she just stood there, teeth bare and her literally glowing with mirth until finally bright laughter erupted in her throat, being as infectious as it was beautiful to hear.

"You wish!"

He very nearly couldn't fight back a snicker of his own as he completely reversed the conversation they had had right before their first trip together, reveling in the feeling that making her smile always evoked and that he had not yet dared to find a name for.

While he pushed back from the console, an amused chuckle rumbling in his chest, she watched him curiously - still giggling when he advanced her.

"Was just a lucky shot, that, an' you're terrible at imitating me by the way", he taunted playfully, looking down at her before he unfurled his arms and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently turning her around, "Now stop askin' an' go on. Haven't got all day, you know."

She half-squealed as he started to push her, delighted by how intent he was on her finally seeing where he had landed them.

"Thought we had a time machine, something about going back and forth and not worrying 'bout things like…"

She didn't even get to finish, her voice cracking when the Doctor muttered behind her.

"Oi, am a busy man, me. Can't stand around listenin' to you chattering on doin' nothing. There's always a king to overthrow or an invention to make, I'll have you know. D'you have any idea what your lovely little Earth would look like if I spent my whole life just hanging about?"

He heaved a deep sigh at that, but Rose could clearly hear the amusement in his words. And she loved it when he was like this – when at least for a few precious moments he was truly unburdened, and happy.

"You realize, for someone who's got no time for that you talk an awful lot yourself."

She couldn't help the startled yelp when suddenly he stopped shoving and just stared at her, pale eyes wide with indignation.  
Turning her head so that she could look at him across her shoulder, she flashed him a cheeky smile and felt oddly proud when he just blinked at her, obviously at a loss of what to say.

"But that's okay. I reckon we can just go and explore a bit and you can continue telling me how clever and important you are. It's like killing two birds with one stone, right?"

Her tongue was at her canine again, the challenge almost radiating all from her and it took all his willpower not to huff in exasperation – something that he just knew she would take endless delight in.

"Rose Tyler", eventually he walked around her, changing tactics, "Be careful what you wish for. I might just make this trip a lesson in astrophysics an' that means the boring kind of it."

When he reached the door of his well trusted ship, he placed cold fingers on its handle, ready to pull it open.

"Or you could just go outside and tell me how amazing I am."

He sported one of his telltale smug grins as he nodded towards whatever was waiting to be seen, and she immediately knew he had just decided to end their little game.

"You think I'll love it."

It was more of a statement than a question she directed at him. Rose could tell from the way he looked at her that he was certain that she would, blue gaze bright and expectant as it only so very rarely was.  
He almost seemed to brim with anticipation and it instantly humbled her to know that it was his hope of seeing her excitement and wonder which made him be so fantastically jaunty.

"Well then, better find out whether you're right, shouldn't I?"

As soon as she had spoken the words, she moved to catch up with him in quick strides, arriving at his side in a matter of seconds and smiling up to him as he asked: "Ready?"

"Have I ever not been?", she quipped at his query, only subconsciously aware of how she stood up on tiptoes to try and be more at eye-level with him, bringing her face mere inches away from the Doctor's.  
Involuntarily a blush rushed to her cheeks as she realized she was now close enough to smell this mixture of leather and time and something else that was quite essentially him, and it had a tingling sensation run up and down her skin that under any other circumstance she would have labeled as pleasant but which now made her feel rather self-conscious.

Quickly ducking her head a little, Rose reached for the door hastily lest he noted but much to her embarrassment this turned out to be even more of a giveaway as the twitching of his lips betrayed. Still there was something distinctly fond in his gaze as he watched her, his own expression unreadable but warm, and at once she found she didn't that much mind him noticing anymore.

Shaking her head almost unnoticeably at herself, amused and ever amazed by how that man affected her without him even trying, she carefully leaned back and pulled softly, knowing the TARDIS would respond to her.

While in front of her the blue was replaced by the twilight of an alien world, her eyes quickly adjusting to the new surroundings, Rose's breath caught in her throat.

She would have expected many things to be out there, would have thought to see stars and nebulas and life in all its majesty. But nothing could have prepared her for what met her eyes as she stepped outside, her lungs still suspended as she stared at this world in awe.

Before her, amber sands sparkled like freshly fallen snow in the dim glow of pale twin-moons - their light a soothing hue of dark azure that she had never seen before anywhere else and which left her to stare at the sky like a kid that saw a shooting star for the very first time.

High above her tiny shadows busily moved heavenwards, swooping down before spiraling back up in what seemed almost like a dance, weaving through the air effortlessly and melting into the dark which held a thousand diamonds within.  
Every now and then a spark of sapphire flared up, their small bodies reflecting the moonlight before they merged with the shades again, releasing a low trill that though distant still sounded beautiful.

To her surprise, amongst their voices was a soft rustling that appeared to be all around her, sounding very much like the swooshing of wind-ruffled grass and yet being distinctly different from that. For a moment she could not decipher where it came from and what it was, but when she caught sight of its source her jaw very nearly dropped.

Out there, on the horizon, beyond the amber beach that seemed to stretch for miles and miles on end, was a sea. Biting at the shores it seemed to live almost, waves towering high and ready to crash, angry and churning. But nothing moved, nothing stirred safe the rays of blue that hushed over their surface, chased by fading clouds and the breeze.

"It's frozen. Middle of a storm", she could almost hear the Doctor smile as he answered to the question she had not even thought of yet, "Night set in when it was at its peak. This planet's sun's the only source of warmth, no molten core or anythin' like the earth has, so when it gets dark temperatures drop quickly and low."

"But shouldn't it be colder then?", she breathed after a moment of consideration, trying to wrap her mind around what she was seeing and what he said. "I mean, 's not like I'm freezing though I should, right."

"That's the TARDIS for you", he stated proudly, squaring his shoulders, "You wanna go and walk under the waves?"

She blinked at that.  
Once. Twice.

"We can actually go there? I mean, is it safe? Won't whatever the TARDIS does melt the water or something?"

Although she appeared apprehensive, she looked utterly excited, almost bouncing on her heals as she glanced at him. And he couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him at the sight.

"We'll be all fine. It's like", he frowned momentarily, trying to think of a good comparison, "like wearing a jumper. Keeps you warm but has no influence on what's around you."

Pulling at the lapels of his jacket then the Doctor gestured towards the dark green one he wore; a goofy grin on his lips.

"So, what d'you say? Up for a stroll?"

She gave him a radiating smile in response, turning towards him and before he could even process what she was doing her arms were suddenly around his neck and her chest against his own – the beat of her single heart thrumming softly against his ribs.

His muscles instantly tensing, his arms hang uselessly by his sides as he felt her breath warm and tickling against his skin, her mouth so close to his left ear that he could hear her breath rush in and out of it.

"Thank you, Doctor!"

Her whisper infused his very being as if she had said something sacred, his mind reeling to catch up with her and decipher what she meant. But all his thoughts came to an abrupt halt as her lips brushed across his cheek, the contact brief, fleeting and yet long enough to burn itself into his memory, leaving him to stare at her, dumbfounded, when she drew back again.

"Thanks for what?"

Had his superior Time Lord brain not decided to cease functioning properly, he might have scowled at himself for saying the exact words that Mickey the idiot had once uttered in a situation so very similar and yet completely different from the one he now found himself to be in. But since all his usually astonishing intellect had reduced to producing but this single phrase, he just looked her, eyes wide and coloured with something that had Rose's smile grow as she stepped away from him and turned around to regard the landscape that lay before her.

Drawing in a deep breath she once more realized just how much she loved this life the Doctor offered her, loved to discover all those things that she had never believed possible and – most of all how much she loved experiencing it all together with him.  
Her hand automatically reaching out for him, warm fingers stretched in invitation and waited for his cooler ones to lace through hers.

When she felt he moved - his hand wrapping about hers gingerly, almost hesitantly - she tilted her head again so that she could look at him.

Dark brown eyes wide and shining under the blue sky, she exhaled audibly and stated with all the sincerity with which she also knew she'd never give up on any of this, not if she had any say in it: "Everything!"

It was only one word, ten letters, but it carried all that she wanted him to know, everything she should have already told him long ago. And when his gaze suddenly softened, she knew he understood.

His own features lightening up upon her confession, he walked up to her, leather rustling slightly as he did so.  
In the dim glow he looked almost unreal, small and yet grand at the same time, the moonlight giving him an aura of calm that she instantly found she liked to see with him. Nevertheless, she tugged at his hand then, eager grin stretching along her lips again while she took a step towards the ocean as he had suggested, motioning to him to get going.

"Come on now", she exclaimed merrily, a laugh melting into her voice, "we've got a wave to catch!"

And just like that she set off, arms stretched between them until his pace matched hers.

While they made their way to the sea, him naming the constellations above and pointing out where about her planet would be as she listened intently, he watched her take in this world, his thoughts running free and yet always circling about this pink and yellow human next to him. Indulging in her joy, he allowed himself to become infected with how she saw the universe and everything he had to show her - realising with a not so small amount of satisfaction that he'd been right indeed.

He had known she'd love it.

And he really ought to take her on such trips more often.


End file.
